Getting some action

Here it is mid-September and I'm behind on the blog again.
I've got three more races completed and I've started training in earnest for the half marathon in November.
First, I did the Action Dash 5K on Labor Day with my friend Joann. This was one she suggested, as many members of her church were participating.
It was over in Piedmont Park, and wouldn't you know it, it absolutely poured for the race. Where was my rain poncho? Staying nice and dry in the closet. I didn't think it would rain that morning, so I didn't bring it.

Me and Joann, waiting out the rain delay

 It rained so hard, the race start was actually delayed by about 20 minutes. We were finally underway and Joann and I both got soaked.

Joann and I found some superheroes

The next weekend I didn't run a 5K, but I started training for the half in Savannah. It was hot and humid here in Atlanta, so the run just felt like a slog.
I ran the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run/Walk 5K again this year with some co-workers on Sept. 12.
Last year we had a much bigger group participate, but this year it was just four of us. Others signed up, but traffic and a work event Sept. 13 kind of conspired to keep folks from the race.
But this weekend, fall really felt like it had arrived in the city.
My friend Erin and I ran the Wheelbarrow 5K in Reynoldstown on Saturday, one of the older neighborhoods in Atlanta. The start of the race was 55 degrees! I brought my sweatshirt, and almost expected to run in it, but then left it in the car.

Erin and me

The Kaiser race was so hot. 84 degrees through downtown Atlanta. But Saturday's race was so pleasant. I took almost three minutes off my 5K time from Thursday to Saturday.
I was on the computer tonight looking for races to sort of take me though the end of the year. I have races in mind, or I'm signed up, for races through the half marathon Nov. 9, but after that I'm pretty wide open.
The holiday season makes it harder to do races, but I hope I can keep fit following the half. it will be a time to consider what half marathon I might want to do in the spring. I'd love to be able to do a half marathon in the spring and then fall.
Now THAT would allow me to get in some racing action.

Out running the po po, again

The first signs of fall have arrived in Atlanta. I turned off my air conditioner last week, and thankfully, I haven't had to turn it back on. Temps at night are dipping into the mid to low 60s and highs are in the low to mid 80s.
That can only mean one thing. The most wonderful time of year has arrived for running.
I've been remiss in writing about my running, so I'll start where I left off in July. July!
I ran two races in August, the August 5K, sponsored by the Atlanta Track Club, and the Magnolia Run, which benefits the Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia.
Both 5Ks were pretty unremarkable for me. Both were hot. Both continued to aggravate my IT band injury and right knee. I'm having more and more trouble with that, even with some Rolfing massage therapy. I dread having to go to the orthopedic for real physical terrorism -- I mean, therapy.
I had signed up for the Big Peach Sizzler 10K on Labor Day when the IT band wasn't really smarting, so imagine my chagrin when the day arrived for a solid 6 miles.
I had such a good time last year on this race -- my best 10K time of the year -- which is why I think I signed up for it to begin with.
But things didn't go so well with this race. For one thing, I was still in line for the port-o-potty when the starting gun went off! Thankfully, I had a timing chip, so I knew I'd get my net time. Still, I really don't care to start at the very back of a race again. I felt like I was behind the whole time. I tried to press myself and just aggravated my IT band more. Not my best race. And one I do not think I'll run next year unless I'm feeling MUCH better.
I ran the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run/Walk 5K on Sept. 13 with about a dozen of my co-workers.

Doug, Amy and Me

Dixie, Jackie, Michael and Joey

Michale at the start line

 I ran about a 38 minute race, exactly what I thought I'd do. This race course was so crowded, I really didn't like it. I felt like I might get tripped by another runner at any moment.
Yet, I was reminded that it was exactly this kind of event that began my running career.
I was not a runner in high school or college. I'd never run. I never liked running.
But when I was living in Jacksonville, Fla., by company fielded a team for a corporate run and I joined. I did so poorly. About 45 minutes to run that first 5K. I was embarrassed by my outing, and spurred on to do better. The rest, as they say, is history. I got the running bug.
Which leads me to this morning's race.the Beat the Badge 5K, which I ran last year, as well.
And what a nice surprise, I ran into friends Susan and Carolyn.

Carolyn and me

Susan and Carolyn

I was really worried that since I had run Thursday night that I'd have dead legs today. But, surprise! I ran this race in 37 minutes, a full minute better than Thursday night's race. I was a full minute slower than last year's race, but still, I was very pleased. I won't say I didn't hurt most of the way. My legs ached and my IT band is really tight.
The police recruits, running in cadence, passed me at about the half way point, but there were two recruits, slower than the others, being helped by a veteran, and I ran slightly ahead of them. I could hear the mentor talking to them, urging them on. He urged me on, too.
So although I outran the po po, it wasn't by much.